Object-oriented global cursor tool

United States Patent [w]

Watson et al.

US005912666A [ii] Patent Number: [45] Date of Patent:

5,912,666 Jun. 15,1999

[54] OBJECT-ORIENTED GLOBAL CURSOR TOOL

[75] Inventors: Ralph T. Watson, Cupertino; Jack R.

Robson, Boulder Creek; Ryoji
Watanabe, Cupertino; Jeff Wishnie,

San Francisco, all of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Object Technology Licensing Corp.,

Cupertino, Calif.

[21] Appl. No.: 08/844,758 [22] Filed: Apr. 22, 1997

Related U.S. Application Data

[63] Continuation of application No. 08/777,012, Jan. 7, 1997, abandoned, which is a continuation of application No. 08/295,442, Aug. 23, 1994, abandoned.

[51] Int. CI.6 G06F 3/14; G06F 9/46

[52] U.S. CI 345/339; 345/335; 345/334;

345/145; 395/682; 395/683

[58] Field of Search 345/339, 335,

345/334, 346, 340, 348, 349, 352, 354, 145, 156, 902, 146; 395/682, 683, 680

[56] References Cited

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FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

A 0 533607 3/1993 European Pat. Off. .

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Cowart, "Mastering Windows 3.1 Special Edition", SYBEX
Inc., pp. 357, 363-367; screen printouts 1-9, 1993.
Alferi, "The Best Book of WordPerfect Version 5.0", Aston-
Tate, pp. 6, 29, 72, 73, 217, 218, 536, 1988.

Primary Examiner—Raymond J. Bayerl

Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Kudirka & Jobse; James A. Ward

A system and method provide a cursor tool framework and tool server with support for multiple cursors on any given system, and supports the selection of a cursor tool utilizing a cursor. The framework and server facilitate the association of cursor tools to a cursor in a process independent space such that tools can be used cross-process and crossdocument. The framework also provides default functionality for communication among cursor tools and the canvas on which they are used. This high degree of interaction allows any cursor tool and any document to function together such that the cursor tool can be written without the knowledge of the document developer.

36 Claims, 14 Drawing Sheets